Author of Inseparable and Undeniable.

Relationships Passing in the Night

November 10, 2017 by Bella

I've finally got a new book coming out before the end of the year.
It's called Relationships Passing in the Night and is a second chance
erotic romance.

Here's the blurb:

An airport bar in Atlanta, two strangers on the same cancelled flight, a hotel with only one room left... and an unexpected mutual attraction.

Chloe runs a venture capital firm in Boston. She walked in on her cheating husband on the same day her father passed away. Now three months into a contentious year-long divorce proceeding, she just wants some peace.

Charles finally gained approval to sell his company’s surgical products and is in a celebratory mood for a change. His recent relationship crashed after he overheard his girlfriend outlining her plans to spend his money, so he isn’t looking for anything serious.

One amazing night later, the pair discover that sometimes strangers can be closer than friends. And after they part, their connection becomes an irresistible force that disrupts both their lives. Are Boston and Dallas too far for relationships passing in the night?

All Books Just 99c

October 4, 2015 by Bella

In my April update, I mentioned some
changes in my personal life. Those changes have continued, and even increased
in some ways, but I'm still writing every single day. By June,
Cotton Nightie Press had two new authors with
books out and I was feeling hopeful. Then Summer came and everything went out
the window.

But through it all I kept writing. On vacation in July, when our family went to
North Carolina, we stopped at a tourist trap ruby mine and I was inspired to
write Diamond Rose, a 50K word novel that I'll never be able to release for
various reasons.

New Book Coming

April 10, 2015 by Bella

I've been quiet for the last three months while I've sorted out some life and
work issues, but I haven't stopped writing. In fact, I have a new book coming
out on April 30th called Undeniable: A Bisexual Bromance.

This story is the first in a new series that follows a trio of friends and
lovers from the point of view of Matthew Mark Carpenter, the son of an Oklahoma
preacher who lives and works in San Diego. He meets Derek Tolbert and Ana
Lambert on a ski trip that changes his life completely. If you'd like an advanced
review copy, drop me a line.

I originally wrote this story for fun after finishing writing and editing
Something Different, but the characters
took on a life of their own. I'm actually half-way through the draft of the
next book in the series, tentatively titled Visiting Austin, which I hope to
release next month.

On a personal note, it's been a hard year so far. I was planning on a career
change to make more free time for my family and writing, but something happened
that forced me to move faster than I'd expected. I had also hoped to buy into a
small publishing company I enjoyed a good working relationship with. When that
fell apart in December, I bought out my book contracts and decided to start my
own boutique press instead.

Cotton Nightie Press is still in its early
days, but I'm hopeful we'll be able to find enough business to make it
worthwhile. I'm hoping to find new friends who want to work with me on this
project. My faithful editor, Annie Hilen,
is already available to help other authors with any developmental or copy
editing needs. Please drop me a line if you know of any editor or graphics
freelancers looking for leads. And if you're interested in publishing a book
and don't know where to begin, I'll be happy to help.

Something Different Is FREE

December 31, 2014 by Bella

I wanted to let everyone know that the new book in my Inseparable series,
Something Different, is free on
Amazon for a limited time.

It picks up Charlotte's story in the Mardi Gras parade at the end of
The Perfect Match. We get to see more
of Jack, Julie, Polly, Kurt, and the kids as all their stories continue with
this one.

Please take advantage of this limited time offer to read
Something Different for free. I've also
got a limited number of signed paperbacks that I'll be giving away, especially
to those early beta readers who helped me tune the story. Let me know if you
want one and I'll put you on the list, but quantities are limited.

Something Different

December 29, 2014 by Bella

I'm excited to announce that the sequel to Inseparable
and Perfect Match will be called
Something Different. It's still pending final review at Amazon, but will
be available for free when it goes live.

Big thanks to my editor Annie and the crew at Cotton Nightie Press for working
with me to turn this idea into a story.

As soon as the book is available on Amazon, I'll post again with the link.
Please consider reading and reviewing it if you liked
Inseparable or
Perfect Match and are looking for a book
to read!

It's Finished!

November 14, 2014 by Bella

Today I've finished the last chapter of Charlotte and Christopher's story. It
doesn't have an official title or cover yet, but it should be coming in a week
or so.

The story came in at around 85K words, which makes it my longest story yet.
Feedback from early beta readers and my editors at
PubYourselfPress have been positive and I'm
excited to find out what my readers think.

I wrote the first words on September 4th and today is November 14th which
gives me a daily average of 1,200 words a day for 71 days. This is a little
less than the 1,300 words a day I managed with
Perfect Match,
but life has dealt me some challenges the last couple of months that intruded
into my writing time.

Starting next week we'll begin editing the draft into shape for a release. I'm
hopeful we'll make the release window later this month. For now I think I'll
just relax and enjoy the wonderful sense of accomplishment in finishing.
I'm off to chase my kids around at the fall festival and spend time with my love.

I'll be sharing more as we move toward the release later this month, so
sign up
for my mailing list or follow me on Twitter
if you want updates.

Feel free to drop me a line, even if you just want to say hi! Also, I'm taking
questions on Goodreads
if anyone has questions about the stories or writing they'd like to ask.

Life and Writing

October 16, 2014 by Bella

My lack of recent updates is a good thing, I promise. I've just passed 50K
words for the next book featuring Charlotte and Christopher with another 40K
or so to go. I have to share that this is my favorite story I've ever written.

If you've read my books, you know I focus on smaller scale stories of regular
people. My first book featured Julie who worked at a bounce house place and
Jack who sold oil field equipment. The second featured a ship master named Kurt
and his love, Polly, who works as a pharmacy technician. In this new book,
Charlotte is finishing up her nursing degree and is interested in Christopher,
who served as a Marine and just graduated as a clinical social worker.

I tell intimate stories where characters grow in the telling, and this one is
no exception. It picks up the story from Charlotte's perspective at the end of
Perfect Match when Christopher appears
at the Mardi Gras parade. Both Charlotte and Christopher are facing tough
decisions about their careers, families, and lives.

Writing the story of their struggle has been exciting for me, especially the
process of plotting out the scenes and exposing their often conflicting points
of view. One of my favorite scenes so far has been Charlotte defending her
right to her own sexual agency. Having her expose Christopher's subtle
double-standard when it comes to their respective pasts was fun to write.

Today I'm writing the end of Act II when things fall apart and all hope appears
lost. Conversely, this is my favorite part of every book I've written. Writing
compelling, relatable characters is just the appetizer. The main course is when
they are tested, beaten, and hopeless. Watching them rise to the challenge and
overcome the odds is the heart of the story, and this one has a spectacular
twist that will hopefully surprise readers and enrich the Happy For Now I'm
working toward in the end.

Before I finish this post, I wanted to share an update from my publisher,
PubYourselfPress. We released
Inseparable in June and
Perfect Match in August, and at this
point I've sold or given away over 56,000 ebooks. With more than 70 reviews on
Amazon
and over 200 ratings on Goodreads
between both books, I wanted to thank the readers who gave me a chance to tell
them a story or two. The kind words and feedback you've sent, publically and
privately, really keep me going.

I'll be sharing more details of the current book as I write, so
sign up
for my mailing list or follow me on Twitter
if you want updates.

Feel free to drop me a line, even if you just want to say hi! Also, I'm taking
questions on Goodreads
if anyone has questions about the stories or writing they'd like to ask.

A Perfect Month

September 24, 2014 by Bella

It's hard to believe Perfect Match
has been out for a month today! I am so pleased with how well it's done,
getting up to #9 on the free bestseller list and staying in a good position
on the paid lists for the rest of the month.

Big thanks to everyone over at PubYourselfPress
who published both Inseparable and
Perfect Match with me. I love Aubrey's
cover design and Sean's assistance in editing helped make the story better than
I could have alone.

I would also like to thank the readers who have taken the time to rate or
review my book on
Amazon
and
Goodreads.
I'm thrilled that so many of you loved the book and am touched by the kind
comments. I've read through them all and wanted to share a few.

"Bella Chal has done it again. What a story. It had me on the edge of my seat."

Perfect Match Is Live

August 25, 2014 by Bella

Perfect Match

August 24, 2014 by Bella

I'm excited to announce that the sequel to Inseparable
is Perfect Match and will be available on Amazon tomorrow, August 25th.
I'm so grateful to my friends at PubYourselfPress
for their help taking my manuscript and making it a book. The cover and promotional
materials that Aubrey made are fantastic.

Once the book is available on Amazon tomorrow, I'll post again with the link.
I'm still looking for reviewers, so keep it in mind if you liked
Inseparable and are looking for a book
to read!

The Sequel Is Finished

August 21, 2014 by Bella

I am happy to report the sequel to Inseparable
is now complete and has been turned over to the editors at PubYourselfPress
to help me craft into a book. Right now the tentative release date is
Monday, August 25. I hope to have a title and cover to reveal soon.

The writing process for this story felt more focused, aided in part by the
outline I submitted to the editors before I began. I wrote it with them
looking over my virtual shoulder to help me during the writing process.
They provided feedback and suggestions when I strayed too far from the
outline without making me feel like I was being fenced in. The support they
gave me allowed me to write faster and with more confidence.

For those who read Inseparable, this
story picks up a little over a year later. The point-of-view in this story is
evenly split between Julie's best friend Polly Makutsi and Jack's nephew Kurt
Guidry. It begins on Thanksgiving and ends three months later at Mardi Gras.

Jack and Julie are featured supporting characters, as are their kids Jen, Lisa,
and little Jackson whose only dialog is composed of an excited "Da!" I wanted
to show their progress as a couple, so I gave them a significant subplot to
explore their evolving relationship. Most of the scenes take place in their
new house over Christmas, allowing readers to see how much has changed in
their lives.

One of my favorite parts of the first book was the Cajun flair Jack and his
mother, Claire, brought to the story. For this one I've opened up Jack's family
to show the kind of life I knew growing up around Morgan City and Lafayette.
With so many extra characters, I actually had to map out a bit of Jack's family
tree and invented some back story to make them interesting and realistic. The
dynamics of family love and tension stretch the characters in ways that mirror
my own experiences in a large family.

I can't reveal too much about the antagonists in this story without spoiling
part of the plot. Suffice to say Polly's road to happiness is not without its
share of roadblocks and detours.

The story weighs in at around 69,000 words and took me 53 days to write. I'm
not a full-time writer, so this represents a big chunk of my free time since
June. After taking a week or two off, I'll get back to writing again. I bet
by the end of this book it will be obvious who's going to be featured next!

I'm looking for reviewers who are interested in getting an advanced copy, so
if you liked the first one and are looking for a book to read, shoot me an
email!

Hurricane Bella

August 14, 2014 by Bella

For the last few weeks I've been carefully cultivating a garden. I began by
preparing the soil while I planned where everything would go and planted the
seedlings in their proper places. Then came the hard work of watering and
weeding, holding my shears back when some of the plants grew in unexpected
directions. I'm speaking metaphorically of course, because what I'm really
describing is my writing process for the sequel to Inseparable.

I try very hard to plan my stories before I begin to write. It's in my nature
to make plans. I often walk up and down the aisles of office supply stores and
dream that the little tools and gadgets might make me more efficient. After
years of writing I now recognize that my plans only last until I sit to write,
then odd and wonderful things begin to happen.

It feels like my brain has two writing modes. One mode focuses on the larger
plot arcs that take many chapters to realize. Imagine the gardener with clean
hands, drawing out where the plants should go on a map. In my other mode, the
gardener has dirty fingers and loves finding little earthworms and strange
seeds in the soil. This is the mode where I write scenes and dialog, letting
the characters speak through my imagination.

This story has taken me places I never expected to go. I've fallen in love with
the characters as I always do, and I've given them little quirks to make them
feel more real. As I write, I plant seeds that weren't in the plan for the
story. Sometimes they are weeds that I end up pulling out. Other times,
though... other times they grow into basil or mint or thyme and spice the story
in wonderful, unexpected ways.

And then comes the day when I finally have a beautiful garden. It's rich and
lovely, but the plants lacks character. Healthy gardens sometimes need strong
winds and heavy rains, and today is the day my characters will be tested. I'm
writing the the end of the second act. The antagonist has done his job well
and Hurricane Bella is about to sweep through the plot.

At the end of the day my hero will believe his heroine betrayed him. My heroine
will realize one casual comment has cost her everything. My supporting
characters will be strained to the breaking point over secrets. The garden will
be wrecked, but the story... ah, the story will be so much better for it.

I love planning and writing to create a beautiful story out of words. But my
secret joy is the day I get the destroy it all, testing the characters to their
limits and digging up the truth. This is the day I find out if their roots have
grown deep enough to survive my winds and rain.

Red Beans and Writing

August 3, 2014 by Bella

I'm happy to report the sequel to Inseparable
is coming along nicely. The story is set, in part, in Morgan City, Louisiana
and delves more deeply into Cajun culture than the previous story.

Since I grew up around there, doing the research for the book is a bit like
coming home. I've spent time reading maps, examining speech patterns, and
remembering the wonderful food.

So instead of writing this afternoon, I've spent time in the kitchen with red
beans, andouille sausage, and the holy trinity; onions, celery, and bell
peppers. After finding my MeeMee's recipe, I've set out to feed the family my
favorite dish growing up.

The one thing I miss, and couldn't get locally, was the real andouille sausage
I always got from Poches Meat Market in Breaux Bridge.
But even without it, the beans simmering in my big cast iron pot is filling the
house with the scent of memories and home.

And in another hour or so, the red beans and rice will ready. And tonight
after the kids are in bed I'll be writing again, fueled by the same food my
characters will be cooking and eating. Hopefully it will add some real flavor
to the story as well as my stomach!

Feel free to drop me a line, even if you just want to say hi! Also, I'm taking
questions on Goodreads
if anyone has book or writing questions they'd like to ask.

Thanks For The Great Month

July 10, 2014 by Bella

This has been such a wonderful experience for me that I had to take time to
thank everyone over at PubYourselfPress who
published Inseparable last month.
Aubrey's cover design is wonderful and Sean's editing and help with
story development went way beyond the call of duty. Thanks so much to you both!

I would also like to thank the readers who have taken the time to rate or
review my book on
Amazon
and
Goodreads.
I'm thrilled that so many of you loved the book and am touched by the kind
comments. I've read through them all and wanted to share a few.

"Some novels just take you by surprise and sweep you up. Inseparable by Bella Chal is one of those books."

"Jack won stars with me when he fought for his kids."

"Julie's Revenge was funny and creative!"

"It has a little bit of everything a little drama... love... family."

"Loved hearing tidbits about Louisiana."

"I will never look at strawberries the same way again!"

"This is one of those books you finish and instantly check what other books this author has written... and, unfortunately, there aren't any yet."

As to the last comment, I am writing every day and hope to have something
before too long. I'll share more details as I write, so
sign up
for my mailing list or
follow me on Twitter
if you want updates.

Feel free to drop me a line, even if you just want to say hi! Also, I'm taking
questions on Goodreads
if anyone has book or writing questions they'd like to ask.

Inseparable Still Going Strong

June 30, 2014 by Bella

Inseparable is still going strong after
nearly two weeks on sale at Amazon. It got up to #8 on the free bestseller list
and yesterday it got up to #701 on the paid bestseller list. The
reviews
have been amazing and I'm so grateful to all the readers who took the time to
comment. The publisher has extended the 99¢ sale for a few more days, so spread
the word!

To answer the most popular question I've gotten from readers this week, Yes, I'm
already working on a sequel. I'll share more details as I write, so shoot me an
email or follow me on Twitter if you want
updates.

3-2-1 Launch!

June 19, 2014 by Bella

My first book, Inseparable, is out today
and so is my new website. I've got so many people to thank for getting me here,
especially my friends at Pub Yourself Press who
helped me edit my draft into a novel.

I'll be updating periodically with news about my second book, so sign up on the
mailing list if you want to be notified of my progress. Please contact me if
you have any questions or comments about the novel or writing in general.